The governor had initially announced last week that 66 people were killed in several communities at Maro in Kajuru.
"I think this is deliberately designed to cause a reprisal and destabilise the local government during elections," he said.
However, after a special security meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari and service chiefs at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday, February 19, 2019, the governor said the death toll has risen to 130.
"The latest report shows that over 130 were killed, not even 66," he told State House correspondents after the meeting.
"The more the police dig into this matter, the more it is clear that there was a deliberate plan to wipe out certain communities," he added.
11 suspects have been arrested by the Kaduna State Police Command in connection to the killings and will be charged to court soon.
"We intended prosecuting those arrested today but as we speak three more are arrested. We want to do the needful before taking them to court," the state's Commissioner of Police, Ahmad Abdulrahman, said on Tuesday.
El-Rufai disclosed that he submitted a briefing based on what has been happening in Kaduna State in the last few weeks and months during the security meeting with the president.
He said the Kaduna government has requested enhanced military presence in particular areas that are affected by rural banditry and areas where there has been a history of either electoral violence or ethno-religious intolerance.
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